Islamabad: Pakistan’s hockey coach on Tuesday blamed the government for the team’s failure to qualify for next year’s Olympics, saying lack of funds had badly hurt their preparations.
Pakistan finished a poor eighth in the World Hockey League semi-finals in Antwerp on Saturday, a tournament which served as qualifying for the Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The team needed to finish in the top five to have any chance of qualifying.
It will be the first time in Pakistan’s 67-year history that they will not feature in the field hockey event at the Summer Games, a failure which prompted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to set up a committee to investigate.
Coach Shahnaz Shaikh said the government had not funded the team properly.
“As a head coach I take the responsibility but I had been asking the federation, the ministry and the government for funds — without funds we were not able to prepare properly,” Shaikh told reporters on the team’s return at Islamabad airport.
“We need to pour money in hockey to lift the structure and give financial support to the players who don’t even have a contract.”
Shaikh said the players had to live with an allowance of just $20 (Dh73) a day in Belgium.
Pakistan, three-time Olympic and four-time world champions, have rapidly slumped in the sport. They finished a poor 12th and last in the 2010 World Cup held in India.
Pakistan also failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup and were seventh in the 2012 Olympics in London.
The Indian women’s hockey team, meanwhile, are hopeful of qualifying for Rio following their fifth place finish at the Hockey World League (HWL) Semi-Final, which keeps them in contention for the 2016 Games.
“Our target was to qualify for Olympics and we are still in contention. All the players played to their strengths. We played against some of the higher ranked teams, which gave us insights on our shortcomings. We will work on them to improve our game play and be ready for our Olympic dream,” India skipper Ritu Rani said after returning to New Delhi from Antwerp on Monday morning.
India needed to finish in the top three in the 10-team tournament to qualify directly for the Olympics. They failed to do that but, following their fifth place finish, they are still in with a chance. The final 12 positions for the Games will decided in October on the completion of the respective continental championships, which also earn teams berths for Rio.
“We knew we had to be in the top-5 to stay in contention for the Rio Olympics. The last two games were very crucial for us and the girls kept their cool despite the huge expectations and pressure on them. The younger players specially played really well and I can confidently say that the future for women’s hockey in India is very bright,” the team’s assistant coach C.R. Kumar said.
